I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections, Nora Ephron (2010)

★★★★★

Again, this book does not entirely follow the theme of this blog which is Meryl Streep related books/movies, but it did involve some somehwhat related Meryl Streep information:

1. Ephron discusses the book and movie Heartburn, which Streep stared in.
2. Ephron writes about Lillian Hellman and her book Pentimento. A story from Pentimento was turned into the film Julia, which starred Jane Fonda, Jason Robards and Vanessa Redgrave. Streep has a small part in this film, and it was Streep's first film.
3. Ephron worked with Streep three times.

Anyway, I just finished this book, and I really loved it, with the exception of the fact that it made me miss Nora Ephron even more.

The book is really a collection of essays and Ephron's thoughts and reflections on life and how she couldn't remember anything anymore. She writes about everything under the sun from lists of things she will miss (i.e. Fall, waffles, walks in the park)/will not miss (i.e. technology, bras, dry skin) to the "Six Stages of E-mail" to going to the movies to the sequence of chicken soup (before or after?) the common cold. Some of the material in the book is slightly outdated because the book was originally published in 2010. Two years later, some minor details and current events have shifted. Nonetheless, the book was extremley enjoyable.

This book was a quick read, but it was funny, fun and engaging throughout. I got really angry everytime I had to stop reading. Naturally, everything Ephron wrote was hilarious, witty and candid, yet still very intelligent and insightful. Ephron is very honest in her reflections and she doens't hold anything back. I found myself literally laughing out loud during this book, much to the sheer confusion of those around me. This is a total cliché, but this book is pure joy. Only Nora Ephron could have written this.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

• "My parents had drinks and there were crudités for us-although they were not called crudités at the time, they were called carrots and celery." (33)
• "Heat up the Teflon pan until carcinogenic gas is released into the air" (70)
• "One of the greatest things about this land of ours, as far as I'm concerned, was that we never fell into the dessert-spoon trap." (74)

and

• The Six Stages of Email ("I have done nothing to deserve this...") (103)
• Ephron's list of things she's refusing to know about (10). This list includes The Kardashians and Twitter.

*Overall, everything in this book is memorable and worth reading.